Yarn lubrication



Aug. 28, 1945. M. H. LYLE ETAL YARN LUBRICATION Filed Feb. 18, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l flfalmimfl Z119 a 6352702; 5% Jmzi/a which is partially immersed in a Patented its. as, was

trEo srn'r 2,333,505 man wanrca'rron Application February is, 1942, Serial No. stress (cl. ire-115i 11 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for continuously applying a controlled quantity of liquid, such as oil or other liquid agent, to a textile thread while the thread is being wound onto a cone, cop, "or the like at variable linear speeds.

In winding machines, the cores upon which the thread is wound are commonly driven at a constant speed during the entire winding operation. As the yarn body is built up in overlying layers on the core, the diameter of the yarn body increases constantly. Consequently, the linear speed of the thread increases progressively in proportion to the increase of the diameter of the yarn body. When lubricants, dyes or other finishing liquids are applied to such travelling threads, the amount of liquid applied to a unit length of thread is not constant, because the amount of liquid applied per unit length of thread is much less when the diameter of the package is large and therefore the linear speed of the thread is great, than is the case when the (iiameter of the package is small. In order to produce a uniformly wound and treated package'on such machines, it is necessary to control the rate of liquid supply in accordance with the linear speed of the thread and to maintain the thread under uniform tension throughout the winding operation. The lubricant or other dressing liquid should preferably be applied con tinuously, at a controlled rate, and in such a manner as not to affect .the tension of the thread.

Various devices for the control of the liquid supply have been employed heretofore which, however, have not given satisfactory results. A

. device most commonly used for this purpose at the present time consists of a rotating roller liquid bath and over which the thread is passed in order to apw ply the treating solution thereto. As the winding operation progresses and the linear speed of the thread increases, the position of the thread on the roller is progressively changed so as to extend the arc of contact of the thread with the roller and thus increase the rate of liquid supply to the thread. However, this device, besides yielding a non-uniformly treated thread, causes variations in the thread tension due to the progressively increasing drag of the thread as a result of the increase in length of contact of the thread with the roller as the build up. of the yarn package on the core progresses.

It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide for the uniform treatment of the thread throughout the winding operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which is adapted to control the rate of liquid supply in accordance with the linear speed of the thread so as to maintain a. uniform distribution of the liquid over the entire length of the thread.

A further object is to provide a device which is adapted to continuously wet-treat a thread with an amount of liquid directly in proportion to the linear speed of the thread and without affecting the tension of the thread.

Still another object is to provide a device of the type indicated for use with standard types of winding machines wherein the yarn is wound. on a support or holder having a constant speed of rotation with the linear speed of the yarn increasing as the package grows in diameter.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description when studied in conjunction with the accompamring drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a thread lubricating arrangement showing the device of the present invention in operative position.

Fig. 2 is a side'elevation of Fig. 1 partially in cross section;

Fig. 3 is a front View of the device comprising the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a top view of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional side views taken along lines 5-5 and 6--6, respectively, of

generic in their application as the art will permit.

Referringto the drawings more in detail, the invention is shown as embodied in a winding machine adapted to. receive threads 8 from suitable supply sources such as spools, cakes, or the like, not shown; to treat the threads with a suitable liquid dressing by means of a liquid suspension device 9 which receives the liquid from a supply means Ill partly immersed in a bath of the liquid; and to wind the threads onto suitable supports ii (Fig. '1) to form packages such as cones or spools l2 suitable for fabrication.

Inasmuch as the winding machine may include duplicate mechanisms to simultaneously wind and treat a plurality of threads, the description will be confined to a mechanism adapted to operate with a single thread. Two such mechanisms have been illustrated in Fig. '1 to show the relative positions of the parts near the beginning and .end, respectively, of a winding operation. It is to be understood, however, that the machine will incorporate as many such mechanisms as may be desired.

Referring more particularly to one of the winding mechanisms, the thread 8 is first passed through stationary thread guides l3 and i4,

thence through the liquid suspension device .9

of the machine and is adapted to be operated at a constant speed by any suitable driving means, not shown. The traversing thread guide i8 is adapted to move longitudinally of the spin dle i9 during the winding operation for causing the thread to be wound thereon in helical courses of progressively increasing diameters. This thread guide is mounted ona support 2| which is pivotally mounted on a shaft 22. 'I'hesupport 21 is provided with a counterweight 23 whereby its upper portion tends to swing toward the axis of the winding spindle and thus maintains the guide 18 in constant contact with the mass of thread on the core I l during a complete winding operation.

The tensioning device 11 may be mounted on a suitable bracket l1a carried by the frame 20 and may comprise, for example, a pair of comb members 24 between which the thread passes and -which are adapted to exert pressure on said thread for applying the necessary tension thereto. Suitable means, well known in the art, may be provided for varying the relative position of the comb members 24 so as to maintain the tension of the thread substantially constant as the speed of travel thereof increases during the winding operation. Depending from the tensioning device I! is a stationary pig-tail thread guide IS.

The movable thread guide I! is mounted in a block 26 and is adjustable with respect to the stationary thread guide l4 by means of clamping nuts 21. The block 28 is adapted to slide on a bar which extends longitudinally of the machine and parallel to the axis of the roll H1. The block 28 supporting the thread guide I! is moved along the bar 25 by means of a link 28 one end of which is connected to a perforated ear is on the block 25 while its other end engages an arm 30 carried by the counterweight 23 of support 21 The arm 30 may be pivoted to said support 21 as at 31 and maybe held in adjusted position by means of a set screw 32 passing through an elongated slot 33 in said arm. The lower end of arm 30 i provided with a series of spaced holes 14, to any one of which the link I! may be coupled to adjust the relative extent of lateral movement of the thread guide ll on the bar 26. y

The moistening or emulsifying device comprises a trough 35 which extends the whole length of the machine below the winding spindles and which may be supported on the frame of the machine in any suitable manner. The trough 35 is adapted to containa liquid indicated at 18, for example, an emulsion having an oil base, or any other suitable conditioning solution in accordance with the requirements of the material to be treated. Partially immersed in the liquid 36 is a liquid feeding element herein illustrated as a small cylinder or contact roll i0 carried on a shaft 31. The shaft "is rotatably journaled in suitable bearings 30 at the ends of the trough 35, and at one end of the shaft is a stepped pulley 39 adapted to be driven from a belt or band 40 connected to a driving element of thewinding justed so as .to control the path of the thread through the liquid suspension device I and through the movable thread guide ii. The bar 42 is held fixed in its adjusted position by means of set screws 43 in the bearing lugs 4i. Stationarily mounted on the trough 35 and substantially in axial alignment with thread guide 14 and in spaced relation thereto is a thread guide II which is adapted to stabilize the path of the thread coming from a supply source (not shown) prior to its passage through the thread guide 14 and liquid receptacle 9. 1 I

Mounted on the trough l5 and positioned in front of the roll in is the liquid suspension device 9. This device consists of a bracket 44, one end of which is secured to the trough I! by means of screws 45 extending through-slots 48 which are adapted to permit limited lateral adjustment of the liquid suspension device with respect to the roll Ill. The other end of the bracket 44 plvotally supports a link 41 by means of a bolt 48. Mounted on the link 41 and extending outwardly to one side thereof is the liquid suspension device 8 consisting of two spaced substantially triangular blades A and B of substantially uniform length and width with respect to one another. These blades are positioned in spaced relation one above the other; the upper blade A being secured to the link 41 by means of screws 50 extending through slots 5| in the link 41.

Slots 5i permit up and down adjustment of the position of the liquid suspension device 9 with respect to the link 41. The lower blade B is secured to the blade A by means of screws l2 and is held in uniformly spaced relation thereto by means of a spacer plate 53 (Figs. 4, 5 and 8). These two blades thus cooperate to form a slot 49 of capillary dimensions as best illustrated by Fig. 4, through which the thread passes on its way to thesupport Ii upon which it is wound. As shown in Fig. 4, the unsupported end portion 54 of the blade A is bent inwardly toward the blade B so as to narrow the width of the slot 4| at this point and thus assist in the feeding of the liquid thereinto.

Extending arch-like outwardly from both ends produce thread substantially uniformly coated throughout its length. v

2. The method of coating thread moving at'a continuously varying linear speed which comprises, passing the thread through a bath of liquid coating material freely held in suspension, said bath being characterized by varying width, and relatively shifting the-thread path and the bath to continuously maintain a fixed ratio between thread speed and bath width, whereby insure substantially uniform coating through I t the length of the thread.

3. Apparatus for theicoating of threads coin prising, a thread source, a collection device,

means for driving the collection device at a cons; t speed, and means. intermediate the threaq-sou'rceand the collectiondevice for applying a coating material to the thread, said means includinga receptacle adapted to hold by capillarity a bath substantially in the form of a sector of a cylinder, said receptacle being so disposed with respect to the path of travel of the thread between said thread source and said collection device as to cause said thread to pass through said bath substantially parallel to the base thereof, means for continuously supplying I said receptacle with a liquid coating material, and thread guide means for shifting said thread with relation to the receptacle during collection to maintain a fixed ratio between thread speed and bath width atthe zone of thread contact, whereby to insure substantially uniform coating of thread throughout itslength.

1. Apparatus for the coating of threads comprising, a thread source, a collection device, means for driving the latter at a constant speed,

;means for suspending by capillarity a bath of varying width, means supporting said suspending means in the path of the threadbetween said source and said device, means for maintaining a constant supply of liquid coating material in said suspending means, and means responsive to increase in diameter of thread on said collection device for shifting the thread with respect to said bath to maintain a fixed ratio between thread speed and bath width at the zone of contact, whereby to insure substantially uniform coating of thread throughout its length.

5. In apparatus for the coating of thread during a winding operation including a device for the collection of thread at a speed progressively intiter of thread on said collection device for guiding the thread in a path which is shifted into successively wider portions of said bath.

6. The method of coating a thread moving at a constantly increasing linear speed which comprises passing the thread through a liquid coating bath which increases in width toward one end and so varying the relative position of the running thread and the bath that the width of the bath contacted by the thread increases as the linear speed of. the thread increases whereby a the integrity of thebath assasco coating is produced on the thread which is substantially uniform throughout its length.

'7. A treating unit for coating 9. thread running at a constantly increasing linear speed comprising means for suspending a bath of liquid coating material which increases in width toward one end, means for guiding a running thread transversely through said bath and means for so altering the relation of the thread guiding means and the bath that the thread passes through a widening portion of the bath as the linear speed of the thread increases.

8. A treating unit for coating a thread running at a constantly increasing linear speed comprising means for suspending a bath of liquid coating material which increases in width toward one end, means for guiding a rimning thread transversely tnrough said bath and means for shifting the thread guiding means toward a widening portion of the bath as the linear speed of the thread increases.

9. A treating unit for coating a thread running at constantly increasing linear speed comprising a pair ofspaced'blades which increase in width toward one end and between which a bath of liquid coating material which constantly increases in width is adapted to be suspended by capillary attraction, means for guiding a running thread between said blades and through said bath and means for-establishing relative movement between the bath and the thread in a direction transversely to the direction of travel of the thread, to increase the width of the bath contacted by the thread as the linear speed of the thread increases whereby a substantially uniform coating is produced throughout the length of the thread.

10. A treating unit for coating a thread running at constantly increasing linear speed comprising a pair of spaced blades which increase in width toward one end and between which a bath of liquid coating material which constantly increases in width is adapted to be suspended by capillary attraction, means for guiding a running thread between said blades and through said bath, means for establishing relative movement between the bath and the thread in a direction transversely of thelongitudinal axis of the bath I ,to increase the width of the bath contacted by' the 'thread as the linear speed of the thread increases and means to constantly supply the bath with fresh liquid coating material to compensate for that taken up by the thread.

11. A treating unit for coating a thread running at constantly increasing linear speed comprising a pair of spaced blades which increase in. width toward one end and between which a bath of liquid coating material which constantly increases in width is adapted to be suspended by capillary attraction, means for guiding a running thread between said blades and through said bath, means for so moving the thread that the width of the bath contacted by the threadin-v creases as the linear speed of the thread increases, means to constantly supply the bath with fresh liquid coating material to compensate for that taken up by the thread, and means to so preserve distribute such coating material as to MALCOLM 11. LYLE. CLIFI'ON'B. SMITH. 

